The bridge metaphor works well (due to its simplicity). Bridges connect people and facilitate the exchange of bright ideas and innovative solutions. It’s a great way to think about how we value our customers and strive to connect with them to win. However, building a bridge with customers took on a quite literal meaning for us in Montreal, Canada, where we supplied drainage and electrical piping used on the city’s new Champlain Bridge.
Ranked among North America’s busiest bridges, the new Champlain Bridge project was immense in scale and something we were eager to be a part of, and not just because we can see it from our office in Montreal. It gave us an opportunity to strengthen our relationship with an existing customer and innovate to bring more value to the project.
In all, we supplied some 3.4 kilometres of drainage pipes as well as several kilometres of Superduct electrical pipes. We worked closely with Huot, a local distributor we’ve been collaborating with for over 40 years, and the company that introduced Aliaxis to the consortium of engineers and contractors running the project.
Together with several Aliaxis departments and market segments, we were able to bring our passion to build to the Champlain Bridge project. We found ingenious or cutting-edge solutions to accommodate the project schedule, simplified their design to facilitate installation, supported the installers working with our products, and even developed a transition gasket specifically for the bridge that saved on delivery time and cost.
The new Champlain Bridge is supposed to last for the next 125 years, but the drainage system we supplied will last far beyond that. It’s safe to say that proved our customers made the right decision in partnering with us and that we’ve set ourselves up for organic, profitable growth moving forward.